China to tighten rules against pollution

China says it will tighten environmental legislation and force polluters to pay compensation following renewed blasts of toxic air.

The speaker of the ceremonial parliament Zhang Dejiang said in a report on Sunday that businesses were responsible for the environmental damage they caused and must be held to account. He said legal revisions were being prepared, but offered no specifics.

January saw air pollution density readings of PM 2.5 particles exceeding 500 micrograms per cubic meter, about 20 times as high as considered safe by the World Health Organisation.

China has repeatedly emphasised the need to control pollution, but has been reluctant to enforce even those paltry measures already announced, largely out of a fear of social disruption and increasing the burden on an already slowing economy.